Sunday, April 9, 2017

There are plenty of sites to buy and sell Vera Bradley, but one of my favorites is eBay. I am not even sure how many Vera Bradley bags I had at the height of my love for Vera Bradley, but over the years I have used eBay to sell off bags that I was done using so that I could make room for new bags. I thought I would share some tips for selling online.

Start with a little research. On eBay you can search for the item you are selling. Pink Pansy is one of my favorite prints, so I will use that for an example. Type in Vera Bradley Pink Pansy Tote in the search bar on eBay. That will let you see all of the postings that match that combination of words. On your computer or on your phone find where you can refine your search (that will be on the left if you are on your computer) and select Show only: Sold listings. This will give you an idea for what your bag is currently going for.

Sell one like this. To make listing easier eBay has links on listings that allow you to sell your similar item. On your computer and on the app it will say 'sell one like this.' This will start a new listing for you and most of the listing will be pre-populated for you. You will have to check all of the fields to make sure they are correct for your item. Also you will have to fill in the description, shipping and add your own photos.

Title. One eBay you get 80 characters for your title and you should aim to use them all! Your title is where you can put in key words that people might be typing in when they are searching for what they want to purchase. Make sure you are truthful and you don't use any words that aren't related to your product. Here is an example of a title I might use for our Pink Pansy Tote: Vera Bradley Pink Pansy Tote Purse Handbag Floral Slip in Pockets Cotton. In your title do not use all caps, unless that is the proper name of what you are selling. Like if I was selling something from REI, using all caps for REI would be acceptable. Also don't use any symbol characters like -*().

Accurately describe your item. If you are selling an older cotton purse there is a chance that it might have a stain or a hole in it. That is okay! It is okay as long as you list that in the description and condition of the bag. I also always include photos of any flaws. People might still want your item depending on how bad the flaw is, just make sure that they know what to expect. Here is my best example. I found a rare Hawaiian shirt that had surfing Santas on it. The shirt had two small holes on top of the shoulder. I disclosed the condition of the shirt and included photos. The shirt sold for $125! I was so surprised, but people really wanted that shirt and since I was honest about the condition of the shirt they knew exactly what they would be getting. I received positive feedback from that transaction.

Buy your shipping supplies from eBay. If you need to build up your feedback, you can purchase your shipping supplies from eBay. The people you buy from will most likely leave positive feedback (not all buyers and sellers log back on to leave feedback after the transaction is over, that is okay and is just part of being on eBay. Don't worry if someone doesn't leave you feedback.) Supplies that I find useful are a postal scale so that I can weigh my items and include that in my sales post. I also buy poly bag mailers on eBay. You can also buy tape and labels.

That is a lot of info, so I will stop there. If you have questions about selling on eBay let me know and I might work on a second post to answer them. You can post your questions or tips in the comments! I hope you have success selling on eBay and enjoy a little extra spending money!